Real Madrid begin the serious phase of their Champions League title defence on Wednesday as they travel to Amsterdam to take on Erik ten Hag’s Ajax.
The Dutch side have always been the breeding ground for some of the best talents and the maturity shown by the youngsters is a smoke-screen for their age.
Madrid endured an underwhelming first half of the season, but have sprung to life in the past few weeks and will be looking to get half the job done on the road.
We examine some of the players who could make the difference in this exciting fixture.
DUSAN TADIC
Tadic’s spell with Southampton failed to turn out like he would have expected. But the Serbian has enjoyed a career revival in Amsterdam, performing brilliantly in Europe.
The winger has scored five goals and provided one assist in the Champions League this season. He also scored a brace in Ajax’s 3-3 draw against Bayern Munich in their last game of the Group stages.
Bare in mind he’s not even known for being particularly prolific. Tadic is the player who has a keen eye for through-balls and boasts of an impressive 2.6 key-passes every 90 minutes in the Eredivisie and 2.0 in the Champions League.
He will fancy his chance against a shaky Daniel Carvajal and the right-back could do with an extra pair of legs to help him overcome the Serbian.
Dusan Tadic
KARIM BENZEMA
The Frenchman showed clear signs of decline after a disastrous start to the season. Yet, he looks to have got his mojo back in the past couple of games and the tie against Ajax could be the perfect way to make a loud and clear statement that he is not done yet.
Benzema is back to doing what he does best – linking up with the midfielders, holding off defenders, creating space for the attackers and fundamentally, finishing off chances that ought to be finished.
The four-time Champions League winner will have to channel his inner virtuoso if Madrid are to progress any further.
Karim Benzema
VINICIUS JUNIOR
The Brazilian boy wonder has been performing at a higher level than normal in the games that preceded this crucial tie. At the age of 18, he’s running circles around some of the best defenders in Spain.
Vinicius started the move that led to Lucas Vascquez’s opener in El Clasico and won Madrid an important penalty in the derby. He will be looking to make it three big-game performances in a row as he takes on an Ajax defence that conceded six goals to Feyenoord not long ago.
The Brazilian’s duel with Ajax starlet Matthijs de Ligt will be one to watch out for.
Vinicius Junior has been a bright spot for Real Madrid.
MATTHIJS DE LIGT
An undisputed starter and a crucial element of the crux of the team for club and country at country, de Ligt will have to play one of the best games of his career so far to stop a red-hot Madrid side.
The Dutchman has attracted interests from top European clubs like Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain. A solid performance against the defending champions could do a lot of good to his stocks in the summer transfer market.
De Ligt was able to comfortably ward off any threat Kylian Mbappe posed when the pair met in the UEFA Nations League in 2018 and completely kept the youngster out of the game. But how he responds to Vinicius – another young talent on the wings – remains to be seen.
Matthijs de Ligt
